MPD rejects charge of retaliation in Duran case

Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings on Tuesday rejected allegations that police arrested Spanish-language journalist Manuel Duran in retaliation for his reporting.

Rallings said the arrest of the reporter and eight others during an April 3 protest came after police gave lawful orders to clear the street.

“They certainly did not target Mr. Duran or anyone else,” he said.

Rallings said that some time earlier, Duran had met with him as part of an ongoing police effort to build relationships with the Hispanic population. The police director said Duran’s willingness to meet him at police headquarters shows he had nothing to fear from local authorities.

“Mr. Duran has been in my office, in my conference room,” Rallings told reporters in a conversation later posted by police on Facebook. “We’ve taken pictures together. At no time did we ask Mr. Duran what his (immigration) status was. That’s not what we do.”

The others arrested at the April 3 protest made bail, but Duran has since been transferred to an immigration jail in Louisiana.

Duran’s lawyers recently filed a petition for Duran’s release, saying that Memphis police and authorities including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement retaliated against the journalist to silence his criticism.

Asked about the retaliation claim, a federal ICE spokesman this week pointed to an earlier statement that Duran has been living in the U.S. illegally for years and that a 2007 deportation order calls for his return to El Salvador. Duran’s lawyers have asked an Atlanta immigration judge to reopen the case.

Duran’s lawyers cite his reporting on issues including alleged cooperation between Memphis police and ICE.

Memphis police have long said they don’t enforce immigration law, and the lawsuit cites a text message a police official sent Duran asking him to take down a Facebook post about the subject. Rallings said that was a clarifying communication just like those the department makes to reporters every day.

Rallings said police need immigrants to come forward as witnesses to crimes, including abuses by the police.

“If there’s something a police officer is doing, I want to know about it.”

Rallings also said Duran had met with Deputy Police Director Mike Ryall and other top city officials, including Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

Now Duran has spent more than two weeks behind bars.

“I can’t imagine what Mr. Duran and his family are going through, and I want to let everyone know, especially the Latino community, that I empathize with that,” Rallings told reporters. But he said people need to obey lawful orders from police officers.

Orders to clear the street can be heard in the Facebook Live video that Duran made during the protest for his online news outlet, Memphis Noticias.

It’s unclear from the video where exactly Duran was standing at the time of the arrest. Duran’s lawyers say he was complying with orders.

The April 3 protest focused on immigration enforcement.

Reach reporter Daniel Connolly at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.